Ah yes, the infamous backlog, that dust-covered stack of games sitting forever unfinished in homes of gamers everywhere. Last week I decided to do something about mine. Sure, that's an annual New Year's resolution that never seems to come to fruition, but I've managed to make some headway.

After discussing the subject with SideQuesting editor and sometimes Joystiq contributor Steven Strom late last week, I decided to attack mine head-on. He then went ahead and renewed an EVE Online subscription.

And now I've decided to chronicle that journey here. Since I've been writing for the front page, I've been neglectful of my old Cblog home and I figured this would be a good way to get back in the swing of things. I envision these being something along the lines of short reviews. So yeah, here goes.

Why I put it off: I got stuck on a puzzle about halfway through the game and couldn't find an obvious solution. After staring at my television for ten minutes I got bored, turned it off and never played it again.

Thoughts: I didn't really find it as compelling or spectacular as so many made it out to be. It's a morbid little puzzle game with an interesting aesthetic, that'd I'd probably skip if I could rewind the clock and get my money back for something else. Still, it was the talk of the town for a while there and I'm glad I can spew apathy at the next person I meet who says it's the best thing ever.

On the Molis Scale of Apathy: Meh.

Why I put it off: Due to the difficulty factor, this is a game I've played in bursts. I've obsessed over this game for days at a time and for countless hours only to put down in frustration and move on to something else. But I knew the servers were going to close down at the end of May (or at least they were supposed to before Atlus decided against it) so I figured I would finish it while I could still play online.

Thoughts: Honestly, it's up there with osme of my favorite games of this generation. Now that I know what I'm doing it's taking everything in me not to play through it a second time so I can finish other games on my list. In general I usually dislike most RPGs, but something here clicked for me. Whatever it was, I loved it.

On the Chad Concelmo Scale of Amazing: AMMAZZZINNNGGGGG!!!!

Why I put it off: I didn't actually. But I'm proud of myself whenever I buy a digital game that I don't let it sit untouched forever. Maybe when I clear off my backlog shelf and move those titles over to the one with the finished games, I'll take a long hard look at all the Steam games I've acquired and maybe do something about those.

Thoughts: I really admire thatgamecompany and enjoy the games they make. They're a total breath of fresh air in an industry full of shooters and action games and I always appreciate looking for that deeper message.

On the Anthony Burch Scale of Art Games: Beautiful.

Why I put it off: I received the game for free, so I didn't feel much of an impetus to play it -- having already had some hands-on time with it at E3. Reading Jim's scathing review of the WayForward title didn't make me want to pick up the controller either.

Thoughts: Wonderful visuals and music. Everything else is dreadful. Hard in all the wrong ways. Unforgiving. Infuriating. Hand-crippling. I wouldn't have finished it hadn't I been on a quest to check off the boxes. It felt oh so good to delete that piece of shit off my PS3's HDD.

On the Scale of Frustration: Kill me now.

Next time on whatever I name this blog when I eventually wind up back at the subject line: Dead Space 2, Outland, Valkyria Chronicles, maybe Skyward Sword. Who knows? Who cares?